In contemporary (e.g., Windows® Vista™-based) computer systems, users are able to view and generally interact with selected content on a small auxiliary display device coupled to or integrated into a main host computer system. To this end, an auxiliary display screen along with an operating system-provided platform (referred to as an auxiliary display platform, or a Windows® SideShow™ platform), enables developers and authors to present content to users. This allows the user to view the content even when the main host computer system is in a reduced power state (e.g., ACPI S3 sleep state), or even turned off.
When creating an auxiliary display device for an operating system such as Microsoft® Windows®, device manufacturers, also referred to as independent hardware vendors, or IHVs, implement a Windows® Vista™ User Mode Driver Framework (UMDF) driver that facilitates communications between the auxiliary display platform and the auxiliary display device. Creating a driver is complicated, as among other things, an auxiliary display driver is required to decode data from the auxiliary display platform into logical auxiliary display operations, and then transmit those intentions to the device through a protocol that the auxiliary display device understands. Auxiliary display devices potentially can take many forms, and the underlying transport protocol used to communicate with the device can vary from device type to device type. Creating a driver is thus a particularly time consuming, burdensome, tedious and error-prone endeavor for device manufacturers.